ferguson



(No Model.)

J. A. FERGUSON. BELT.

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.we mms vsrzns co.. vuoraurno.. wnsnmoron. n. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE.

JOHN A. FERGUSON, OF FERGUSON,`MISSOURI.

BELT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 499,978, dated June 20, 1893.

Application filed May 31, i892.

To all 4whom vit may concern.-

Be it known that I, J oHN A. FERGUSON, of Ferguson, St.4 Louis county, Missouri, have made a new and useful Improvement in Belts, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The present improvement relates to that class of belts which are constructed with reference to the liberation of the air which, when a' belt is run at great speed, is liable to get between the face of the pulley and the belt whose eiiiciency is in consequence materially impaired. Attempts have been made to obviate the trouble referred to by perforatin g the belt, to form air-passages extending through the thickness of the belt, but with partial success only on account of the perforations becoming stopped with the grease and dirt which is apt to collect upon belts. The perforations also tend to weaken the belt. Transverselyextended grooves have also been suggested, but such a method is objectionable, the belt being weakened and thev grooves not easily cleaned. l

In the improved belt under consideration one or morel grooves are formed in that surface of the belt which is applied to the pulleyface, thereby providing air-passages between the belt vand the pulley-face, through which the air can escape without having to pass through the belt. The passage or passages in question extend longitudinally in the belt. In depth they may extend more or less into the belt as may be desired: that is, they may extend half way or more through the beltgor only slightly thereinto, and they may have any desirable form in cross-section.

The most desirable mode of carrying out the improvement is exhibited in the annexed drawings, making part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a view looking toward the inner side of the belt, or that side which is toward the pulley-face; Fig. 2, aview of the opposite side of the belt; Fig. 3, a cross-section of the belt on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4, a view in cross-section of the belt applied to a crowned pulley-face, and Fig. 5, a detail illustrating a modification.

The same letters of reference denote the same parts. Y

A represents a piece of belting-material- Serial No. 435,064. (No model.) I

leather, for instance-of suitable width and length for the intended belt.

B B represent narrower pieces of beltingmaterial applied to the inner side, a, of the piece A. The pieces B, B,.can be secured in any suitable manner, consistent with the uses of a belt, to the piece A. I preferably cement them thereto. The pieces, B, B, are spaced apart from each other to form the air-passages C, C, substantially as described. The passages are of any desired Width, and the width shown in the drawings I consider a desirable one. The described passages may be formed in the belt in anyother equivalent manner. The pieces A, and, B B, might be integral as shown in Fig. 5 and the passages be channeled therein. The outer edges of the outermost pieces, B B, are preferably made to coincide with the outer edges respectively of the piece A, substantially as shown, although this is not essential. The belt thus made is usedin the customary manner. In addition to the advantage suggested, namely, that the air-passages are less likely to be stopped than are perforations extendingthrough the thickness of the belt, there are others which may be named: the belt easily bends along the lines of the air-passagesand conforms readily to the crowned surface d of the pulleyD: the airis so effectively excluded that the top vside of the belt sags more upon the pulley and hence the belt has more driving-power; and there is less strain upon the belt-pulley-bearin gs: the belt runs straighter than does a belt composed of two layers or plies of leather of equal width, the narrower pieces, B, B, each as compared with the wide piece A, being of a more homogeneous nature, and hence, when attached as described to the piece A, serving to correct any unevenness existing therein; the several pieces, B, B, also resist more advantageously a longitudinal strain and are a more durable construction than a single piece whose width equals that of the pieces B B 5 .and the belt can be more readily and economically repaired, as any of the pieces B B-the outside ones, for instance, which are apt to wear the most-can be renewed without having to replace all of them. The pieces B, B, also materially strengthen the belt in the direction of its length. noise occasioned by air getting between the IOO The

abres whenwbeemnreefmeifmrcrhameitheranJ sarnewstidth. iltiishoweverlesseutiailjiirstthat:

theprepontionfothegreovingtotheitotalwideh 2 O belt and pulley-face .is `largely ifvnot-neutirelyf obviated. iin practice, :the igreeives, C LC, .aref about one and a half inches apart. Any dirt collecting in them can be easily removedthere- 4 from by holding a suitably-pointed tool in the grooves as the belt jsrntmotion. f, The described air-passagesarc `4"usefinl not only'ina belt which is closed at its outer' vsurface, but also in one which also has perforar; tions extending entirely through the thickness@` of the belt. f The picce,;A,smayfbefaisinglemlynasishewn, or be composed of moreAthan'nuempl-y. f The grooving herein described, with'inlcer-f tain limits, is an absolute advantage. It enordinaryslnooth jbe'ltyor a 'flink libeltfdf sthet A"fllhemiidth dfanygrovwto obtaiilnthelbest i resnltsfshou-ld not exceed ithetotal thickness (the-:thickness ofranfungreevedportionof :th-e belt, anditiis betteritowthe groeviugtolfbefdistributediilnfthelformdf severalegrcoves equally 1i spaced apart "from each other 1and tfh'exfsdes of the 'libel t, and uit' otherwise arranged #thei .grooveaito obtain the ,best results, should be 35 spacedrapantia itistaneefequal sayto'the total thicknessof the belt.

.Iclaim- 1. The herein described belting having its @inner-surfaceigreoved longitudinally to pro 4o `vide an air-passage or passages, and the remaining portion of n said surface dat, the @moved portin of said surface within the 'limits named.

'2. The herein described belting having its 45 iinnen-sulrazeeegmoemedtlengitudinllyfto provvde-an1ai.r-Jpassage "or passagesgand the rermaifring portion 'o'f `said surface flat, the 4grooved portion-of-said surface being within the -limits named, and 4ihe igrooves 4being 5o ifermed nby l-mewrls df strips 'attached tothe gnaifgpertiion fdf ith-esbelta in Jthemann'erfaset ont rhersirnfaeseribeasbeifinghavmgiis ijtnesses:

AfC. EB. iMeeus@ A. "BoNvrLLn 

